1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a sensing device for detecting a level of ice present within an ice storage bin of an automatic ice maker system arranged within the refrigerator.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In the art of refrigerators, it is widely known to incorporate an automatic ice maker system wherein ice cubes are formed and collected within an ice storage bin. The ice cubes can either be accessed directly at the ice storage bin or through a dispenser. With such a system, provisions are commonly made to sense a level of ice cubes in the ice storage bin. A control is employed to automatically terminate the production of additional ice cubes when the amount of ice cubes in the storage bin reaches a predetermined level. Typically, the automatic ice maker will have an associated bail arm which rises and falls with the level of ice in the storage bin. When the level of ice causes the bail arm to shift upward a predetermined distance, the formation of additional ice is temporarily terminated. However, with this arrangement, often times ice can pile onto the bail arm in such a manner as to prevent the bail arm from shifting upward and terminating ice production.
To address this problem, some automatic ice makers are provided with a separate motor and cam arrangement, or utilize existing drive components, to raise the bail arm prior to an ice harvesting cycle. That is, prior to harvesting or ejecting ice cubes into the storage bin, the bail arm is raised so that ice cubes that are ejected into the bin do not pile onto or accumulate on the bail arm. However, while effective at preventing the bail arm from signaling a false negative, and allow ice to exceed preset levels, motor and cam arrangements increase the overall cost, complexity and size of the automatic ice makers. Additionally, the burden placed on existing drive components could detrimentally impact the service life of the ice maker. In the highly competitive field of kitchen appliances, it is advantageous to minimize manufacturing steps, eliminate potential failure points or otherwise increase the efficiency of an appliance without detracting from an overall established level of quality.
Based on the above, despite the existence of the automatic ice makers in the prior art, there still exists a need for an automatic ice maker system that includes a bail arm which is moved to a raised position prior to an ice harvesting cycle. More specifically, there exists a need for a bail arm that employs a simplified actuation mechanism to move the bail arm between the raised and lowered positions.